Wilderness Therapy Peak Experience

Using Peak Experiences as a Catalyst for Change

Amid the routine of daily life, there are certain exceptional experiences that stand out as special and even life-changing. Psychologists sometimes refer to these as “peak experiences” – when everything feels right with the world and you are filled with powerful feelings of happiness, peace and awe.

Some people search in vain for a peak experience through drug use or other artificial means, but most often they come about as the result of meditation, a loving relationship, great art or music, or the magnificence of nature.

According to Abraham Maslow, the founder of humanistic psychology, peak experiences are “rare, mystical, exciting, deeply moving, and exhilarating.” These types of experiences also provide:

• A sense of purpose, value and self-worth, causing people to seek out more positive experiences throughout their lives
• A heightened sense of awareness and control over one’s emotions
• A feeling of spiritual connection or oneness with the world
• Motivation to see life and oneself from a different perspective
• A sense of gratitude

The benefits of a peak experience last beyond the moment by increasing a person’s creativity and sense of well-being long-term. “The peak-experiencer becomes more loving and more accepting, and so he becomes more spontaneous and honest and innocent,” wrote Maslow in Religion, Values and Peak-Experiences.

Reaching the Peak in Nature

Parents of teens who are struggling with emotional or behavioral issues, experimenting with drugs or alcohol, or rebelling against authority may believe their child isn’t capable of such a profoundly positive experience. But the adolescent experts at SUWS, a wilderness therapy program in Idaho, know that troubled teens are abundantly capable of a peak experience.

“The wilderness is full of opportunities for peak experiences,” said Mark Ellis, LMSW, the field supervisor at SUWS. “Whether they’re working with a horse or llama, practicing a mock search and rescue drill, engaging in an ancient rite of passage, hiking to the summit of a mountain or watching a beautiful sunrise over the desert, these experiences help teens discover that life is well worth living.”

Building Self-Confidence Through Challenge

In wilderness therapy at SUWS, teens face a number of challenges, including taking care of themselves without the comforts of home, building fire with a bow drill, and caring for the group’s llamas which help them carry their gear from campsite to campsite. In order to achieve their goals, teens become keenly focused and absorbed in what they are doing – one of the hallmarks of a peak experience.

“A lot of teens struggle when they first come to SUWS. They question, ‘Why am I here and how can I get away,’” explained Ellis. “But they leave SUWS very different, having learned how to rescue themselves and then begin helping others.”

In an environment where they’re out of their comfort zone and constantly learning new skills, teens’ minds open to a new realm of possibilities. As they begin to accomplish tasks that seemed impossible at first, teens discover that they are smart and capable. With a new attitude and fresh outlook on life, the opportunities are suddenly endless.

Acclaimed British author Colin Wilson said of peak experiences, “Human beings do not realise the extent to which their own sense of defeat prevents them from doing things they could do perfectly well. The peak experience induces the recognition that your own powers are far greater than you imagined them.”

Healing Relationships

By living in a group with their field instructors and peers, teens learn the value of being part of a team and contributing to a larger cause. Each group completes initiatives on a high and low ropes course, allowing them to face their fears and develop bonds of trust. The teens also learn basic search and rescue skills such as first aid and emergency response, getting them excited about working as a team and helping others.

SUWS students also gain peak experiences through their relationships with animals. Equine therapy is a powerful way for teens to work through difficult emotions and nurture trusting relationships, as is the teens’ daily work hiking and camping with the program’s llamas.

“When you pair an oppositional teen with an oppositional horse, the experience can be incredibly powerful,” said Ellis. “Issues they can’t see in themselves suddenly become clear after they face those same struggles with their horse.”

A Peak Experience for the Whole Family

Adolescents at SUWS aren’t alone on their wilderness journey. Wilderness therapy can also facilitate peak experiences among parents who are going through the process of change along with their child. Parents write letters, complete weekly therapeutic assignments and participate in family therapy during their teen’s stay at SUWS.

Several peak experiences that can change the entire family’s mindset are:

Family Camp – a five-day immersion of parents with their child, and other families, mid-way through the SUWS experience. During this time, teens and parents are camping, engaging in Truth Circles, having family sessions with the SUWS therapist, preparing meals, participating in individual family equine therapy sessions, and creating a support network with other families. Students demonstrate some of their wilderness skills, lead their parents on a blind-folded trust walk, and discussions occur regarding long-term and transition plans.

Trail’s End – a child’s stay at SUWS ends with graduation (also known as “Trail’s End”). Parents often participate in this experience, which is a 24-hour event that involves a final family session solidifying long-term plans and a celebration of the child’s accomplishment. Highlights of Trail’s End include the Eagle’s Perch element of the ropes course (students and parents are given the opportunity to “leap” into their future as the rest of the group provides support from the ground) and a sunrise ceremony to celebrate the end of the journey at SUWS and the beginning of the journey into life.

All teens, even those who are oppositional or resistant, are capable of peak experiences. While peak experiences can come about at any time, for a variety of reasons, they are an important part of the process of change that occurs in wilderness therapy. With so many opportunities for a life-changing experience, teens return home a little wiser, a little brighter and a lot happier.